


Just Friends

by Dreamin



Series: What Happens After [4]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 20:31:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19893922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/pseuds/Dreamin
Summary: The public gets the wrong idea when Stephen and Pepper are spotted having dinner together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/gifts).



> This takes place right after _Lending A Hand_.

Stephen waited in the wings as Pepper gave a speech about her late husband to the assembled students and faculty of the university. They hung on her every word while he studied her face. Talking about Tony to strangers was hard enough, but having to make a speech about him to over a hundred was Pepper’s personal hell. She hid it better than any Oscar-winning actress, but Stephen knew the toll the day was taking.

After the expected standing ovation, Pepper went backstage and Stephen was immediately at her elbow, giving baleful looks to anyone who tried to stop them as he guided her out of the building, saying that Mrs. Stark had a busy schedule. It was a lie, of course – Pepper had cleared the entire day – but an effective one.

As soon as they were seated in the back of the limo, Pepper leaned back and closed her eyes, physical and emotional exhaustion coming off her in waves. Stephen laid an assuring hand over hers.

“You did good in there,” he murmured.

“Thanks,” she said, not opening her eyes, a small smile on her lips. “I didn’t even have anything written, I just BS’d my way through it.”

“No one could tell.” He watched her for a moment. “We can save dinner for another time if you’re too tired.”

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him, smiling tiredly. “No, it’s nice to have an adult conversation while I eat once in a while.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure. Alright. But you’re going to bed right after, young lady.”

“Uh huh.” She sighed quietly as she turned her head to look up at the upholstered ceiling. “When are people going to let Tony rest?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “He saved the universe, perhaps it’s better that he’s not forgotten.”

“Then when can I stop accepting invitations to everything that’s even remotely connected to him?”

“Probably not for a few more years.”

She groaned quietly at that. “I just want everyone to leave Morgan and me in peace, is that too much to ask?”

He gently squeezed her hand. “It is when you’re a public figure.”

Pepper turned to him again. “But Morgan-”

“Morgan’s not, you’re right, but you are. Until the world can move on, you’ll still be living under a microscope.”

“I never asked for this life,” she said quietly.

“You never asked to fall in love with a genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist either,” Stephen said, smiling gently, “yet that’s exactly what happened.” He was happy to see her smiling back, however weakly. “For better or for worse, the microscope is part of the deal.”

“At least I’m not alone,” she said, turning her hand over to squeeze his back.

“Never alone,” he agreed, “not anymore.”

* * *

Dinner was at Pepper’s favorite French restaurant. The food and wine were good but in Stephen’s opinion, they paled compared to the company. It took a little effort and several amusing anecdotes but he finally got a full, genuine smile out of Pepper, and even a laugh or two.

They were just leaving the restaurant, his hand lightly on her lower back as he guided her to the car, when they were spotted by the paparazzi. Camera flashes burst in their faces, enough to temporarily blind them, and the questions came just as fast.

“Mrs. Stark! Is this your new boyfriend?”

“Wait, is that Dr. Strange? Mrs. Stark, you’re dating another Avenger?”

“I guess Tony really was that forgettable, wasn’t he?”

That question was enough to make Stephen’s blood boil on Pepper’s behalf. His ire must have shown on his face because Pepper took his arm and practically dragged him back to the limo, flashes still going off around them. The car sped away as soon as they were seated.

“Are you alright?” Stephen asked gently.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Pepper said. “I thought you were going to zap that one guy into next week.”

“After what he said, I wanted to,” he admitted. “No one has the right to-”

“Stephen, it’s okay,” she assured him, taking his hand. “We got out of there, no harm done.”

He had his doubts about that but he kept them to himself.

By the time Stephen walked into the Sanctum Sanctorum, he knew from the look on Wong’s face that the shit had not only hit the fan, it was dripping from the ceiling and running down the walls.

“Check your phone, Strange,” was all the librarian needed to say.

“Which site?” Stephen asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“It doesn’t matter, you’re trending on all of them.”

 _Shit…_ He went to Tumblr and the first thing on his dashboard was a gif of him and Pepper leaving the restaurant and being inundated by the paparazzi. It was tagged “Pepper Stark,” “Doctor Strange,” and “are they together?! OMG!!!” A quick scroll showed several posts like that and a few text-only posts of people giving their opinions on his and Pepper’s “relationship.” Everyone assumed the two of them were dating and most of them did not approve.

“‘It’s too soon,’” he read aloud. “‘It’s only been a year.’ ‘Tony’s barely cold in his grave.’ ‘Do you think they had an affair behind Tony’s back?'” Stephen shook his head in disbelief then looked at Wong. “This is beyond the pale.”

“Yes,” his friend agreed, “but if you try to fight it, you’ll only give them more fuel. Ignore all of it.”

“Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” Stephen muttered. “I have to talk to Pepper.” He switched his phone for his sling ring and opened a portal to Pepper’s Upper East Side apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Stephen found Pepper in her living room, on the phone with someone he assumed was her lawyer since she was talking about a libel suit. She nodded at him when he approached and held out her hand, which he squeezed gently before letting go and sitting on the sofa. She wearily dropped onto the space next to him as soon as she was done with the call.

“What did Tracy say?” he asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Mostly a lot of legalese,” Pepper muttered, her eyes on the bouquet of yellow roses on the coffee table. “We can’t do anything until we can prove the news sites are trying to hurt our reputations. This is the last thing I needed.” She turned her head to look up at him, smiling a bit. “No offense.”

He smiled back reassuringly. “None taken. How do you want to tackle this? I’ll follow your lead.”

“Thanks,” she said sincerely. “Tracy suggested a press conference but I think that would be overkill.”

Stephen nodded. “Wong suggested that we ignore it altogether. I think what we need is somewhere in the middle.”

“I agree. Maybe an exclusive interview?”

“That makes the most sense.” Something in her eyes told him she wasn’t being completely open. “Pepper?”

She sighed quietly, not meeting his eyes. “I’m already receiving death threats.”

He stared at her. “What? Where?”

“My blog. I turned off anonymous asks after the first three.”

“When were you going to tell me this?” he asked, his protectiveness rising.

Pepper looked up at him. “Stephen, it’s fine, really. They’re far from the first death threats I’ve ever received.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring, Pepper.” He removed his arm from her shoulders and pulled out his phone.

She sat up. “What are you doing?”

“Texting Wong that I’m staying here tonight,” he said, his eyes on his phone. With the damage done to his hands, he couldn’t text quickly but he could still get the job done.

“Stephen-”

“It’s just you and Morgan here.”

“In the safest building in the city. No one’s going to try anything and even if they did, I have the suit.”

“A suit you only fought in once. I’m staying with you until this blows over.”

“It’s not going to blow over if the press finds out you’re here. Stephen, please, go home. Morgan and I will be fine.”

He looked at her, torn, then sighed quietly. “Fine, but I want you to call me the minute anything else happens. And don’t go into work tomorrow.”

“That would look like I’m hiding. I can’t do anything that makes me look guilty.” He was about to protest but she held up a hand. “And yes, I know there’s nothing wrong with two unattached, consenting adults being in a relationship but some people don’t see it that way, at least not about me.”

“So, you’re just going to act like nothing’s wrong?”

“Yes because nothing is wrong. You and I aren’t dating and even if we were, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Pepper…”

“I’ll send you the details about the interview when I have them,” she said, her tone brooking no argument.

He smiled fondly, he couldn’t help it. “Have you always been this stubborn?”

She grinned. “Ask the CEOs of the companies I do business with.”

“Right,” he said, chuckling, then he stood up and she did as well. “Be careful,” he said gently then he leaned to kiss her cheek.

“I will,” she promised, smiling. “Goodnight, Stephen.”

“Goodnight.” He formed another portal and went back to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Wong was waiting for him. “What did she say?”

“We’re going to give an interview.” He brought a hand to his forehead, willing the sudden tension headache to go away. “I just hope it works.”

The man Stephen could honestly call his best friend assessed him for a moment. “You could do a lot worse.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow at him. “Pepper and I are just friends.”

“Is that what you really want, Stephen?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Wong, it is.” He headed for the kitchen and Wong followed him. “I have no room in my life for a girlfriend, what happened with Christine proved that.”

“Mrs. Stark is a very different woman than Dr. Palmer. She understands the threats to this world and the sacrifices that sometimes have to be made.”

“Yeah,” Stephen muttered as he entered the kitchen and went straight to the fridge, pulling out a couple of beers, “she understands sacrifice very well.” He opened both of them then gave one to Wong.

“Do you think you’d be competing with Tony’s ghost?”

He took a sip of his beer. “What I think is that I’m damn lucky to have this woman in my life at all. I don’t need anything more than to have her as a friend, and I’m pretty sure she feels the same.”

The skepticism on Wong’s face was clear. “But you haven’t asked her, have you?”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “No and I’m not going to.”

“Your blindness will be your doom, Strange,” Wong muttered.

* * *

Early the next afternoon, Stephen found himself leaning on the edge of Pepper’s desk in his full Master of the Mystic Arts regalia with his arms crossed, waiting for the reporter from some “respectable” celebrity magazine he’d never heard of to ask an intelligent, or at the very least relevant, question. So far, everything the woman had asked was about Pepper’s wardrobe.

“Is there a way we can move this along?” he asked irritably. “Mrs. Stark is a busy woman.”

Pepper grinned at him gratefully but the reporter scowled. “I have a wordcount to make, Mr. Strange.”

“It’s Doctor Strange.”

“Whatever, it’s hard to fill a thousand words with just a denial. Now, you both say that you’re not a couple yet you were seen dining together at Vaucluse, and looking quite cozy, from what I understand.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “She had a very trying day and we had a relaxing dinner as friends. Look, we’d been acquaintances since the final defeat of Thanos and we became friends after the first anniversary of Tony Stark’s death. Friends are all we’re going to be and you can quote me on that. We’re done here.”

The reporter was, thankfully, smart enough to know a dismissal when she heard one. She got up and left in a huff.

Pepper let out a laugh as soon as the door was closed. “Remind me never to make you my PR person.”

“Did I just make the situation worse?” he asked, realization dawning.

She chuckled. “Probably, but I think you also got your point across.”

He wanted to tell her what Wong had said but something held him back. _Something like … maybe the fact that it’s the truth?_ Stephen shoved that thought aside. _No, Pepper’s just a friend._


End file.
